Ben Whittaker: The Birth of the Skeleton Kit

A relationship that started in amateur boxing, more than 14 pieces created, and the skeleton design that became part of Ben “The Surgeon” Whittaker’s ring identity.

Art of War's relationship with Ben Whittaker goes back further than almost any fighter we have worked with.

Darnell and Ben first crossed paths at around 13 years old at a national amateur championship in Liverpool, where Darnell had travelled to support a stablemate.

At that point, there was obviously no Art of War Studio, no professional careers and no idea that over a decade later we would be working together in a completely different part of the sport.

Fast forward to 2022 and Art of War created the boots for Ben's professional debut on 30 July.

Since then, more than 14 individual pieces have been created for him across his professional career, with Art of War involved in the footwear and equipment for many of his fight nights.

But there is one project in particular that changed the direction of what we were creating together.

The black skeleton kit

On 3 February 2024, Ben fought Khalid Graidia at the OVO Arena Wembley in London.

Fight Label created a bespoke all black fight kit for the night, with Art of War producing the matching gloves and boots.

This was the first outing for the skeleton concept.

The equipment was kept predominantly black, with white skeletal detailing running across the gloves and boots and tying directly into Ben's existing nickname, The Surgeon.

It was a simple idea visually, but everything worked together. The all black kit, the skeleton detailing and Ben's personality in the ring gave the whole look a clear identity.

Ben stopped Graidia in the fifth round, but the attention around the fight quickly became much bigger than the result itself.

Clips of Ben showboating, slipping punches and controlling the fight spread across social media, generating millions of views and putting him in front of audiences far beyond those already following British boxing.

The skeleton kit was there throughout those clips and became closely associated with that breakout moment.

Selhurst Park

A few months later, the concept returned for a completely different looking fight night.

On 15 June 2024, Ben fought at Selhurst Park in London for the vacant IBF International light heavyweight title.

Fight Label produced a denim kit, while Art of War created matching baby pink and blue gloves and boots, introducing blue denim detailing into the skeleton artwork to tie the equipment into the rest of the look.

Rather than recreating the original black pair, the same core idea was adapted to fit a completely different kit and occasion.

Ben won by unanimous decision over ten rounds and left Selhurst Park with the title.

Becoming part of Ben's ring identity

The skeleton has continued to appear in different forms since those first two projects.

What began as a design for one fight naturally became something that made sense to keep developing around The Surgeon name.

That is one of the advantages of working across several fights with the same athlete. There is an opportunity to build continuity rather than treating every commission as an isolated piece.

The skeleton gives Ben that continuity while still leaving room for each fight kit to take the design somewhere new.

From Liverpool to the professional stage

There is something quite fitting about where the relationship has ended up.

The first time Darnell and Ben crossed paths, they were around 13 years old at an amateur championship in Liverpool.

Around 11 years later, Art of War created the boots for Ben's professional debut.

What followed has become more than 14 pieces across his professional career, from those debut boots to the skeleton equipment now closely associated with his ring identity.

The original black skeleton pair remains one of the standout projects from that body of work because it happened to be worn on the night Ben's profile exploded globally.

But it also marked the beginning of a visual direction that we have been able to keep building on ever since.

From crossing paths as kids in amateur boxing to creating pieces for some of the biggest nights of his professional career, it has been good to see both journeys develop in parallel.

And there is still plenty more to create.